Cons:

Although he may not be a household name outside of the gaming world, Agent 47 is certainly one of the industry's most recognizable figures. The assassin's bald, aerodynamic dome (complete with barcode) and calm, cool ways of dispatching enemies are hallmarks of Eidos' popular Hitman series. The series violently exploded onto the PC in 2000 before making the leap to consoles with Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, the game that rocketed the series into gaming's stratosphere. After a brief, disappointing detour (Hitman: Contracts), Agent 47 is back in Hitman: Blood Money, but he's gone from being the hunter to becoming the hunted.

If you've never played a Hitman game before, this is a perfect place to start. Although playing the previous games in the series is not a prerequisite, longtime fans of Agent 47's work will be happy to see that there are some allusions to what happened in the other titles. However, first-timers will be rewarded with what amounts to the most polished game in the franchise, one in which there's actually a solid, engaging storyline to tie all of the missions together. It seems that a rival agency is trying to rub out our bald friend and his associates, and Agent 47 will begin to unravel the mystery as he makes his way through the game's dozen missions.

For the most part, the core gameplay has remained the same for the duration of the series, and Blood Money features the same type of stealthy combat that you've seen before. You'll be briefed before your missions, which will give you a chance to find out who your targets are, where you can expect to find them, and any other little informational nuggets that might make your job easier. Once you're in the thick of the action, you'll be able to use your nifty GPS-style overhead map to see everything from the movement of your enemies to any points of interest in the expansive levels. The game primarily takes place in the United States (a first for the series), in locales ranging from a Northern California rehab clinic and a Las Vegas casino to a Mississippi riverboat and the streets of New Orleans (during Mardi Gras, natch).

Part of what makes the game work so well is the sheer size of these levels, which allows the player to plan his hit in a number of different ways. As was the case with the previous games in the series, you're much better off taking the time to plan your assassinations, as running and gunning will likely get you killed before you can even reach your target. Instead, you'll be well-served by scoping out the area, finding those places where, through some sort of elaborate sequence, you can make your mark's death look like an accident. While this sort of play definitely requires some patience (such as when I had to spend 10 minutes sitting in a closet), the payoff is definitely worth it. You can crush your enemies with chandeliers, blow them up with their own BBQ grills, and even cause them to fall into a shark tank.